5 key points for sizing your goods-to-person solution

The Goods-to-Person solution brings the different items in an order to the operator’s workstation. The concept is easy. Products are stored in an automated shuttle system, then moved with the help of a combination of lifts and conveyors to a picking or palletisation station. Particularly relevant in pick and pack and case picking contexts, especially for articles with medium to low levels of turnover, this type of automated solution is becoming more and more popular because it results in significant space saving, a reduction in preparation times and an increase in productivity.

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The major advantage of this solution is the high level of performance in order preparation that it brings, meaning an increase in reactivity, an ability to deal with urgent orders more easily and to prepare orders as close as possible to the departure times of the carriers. Another advantage of the Goods-to-Person solution is space saving and a reduction in warehousing volume. With an automated storage system, the space given over to aisles is kept to a minimum as they are only occupied by active machinery. At the end, with the Goods-to-Person solution you will also benefit from a very high level of preparation quality. Order pickers are installed at ergonomic, user-friendly and comfortable workstations and they devote themselves solely to picking. Free from having to move about, they gain in efficiency, productivity and preparation quality increases.

WHY IS SIZING IMPORTANT?

Correctly sizing your installation guarantees an efficient, flexible and scalable solution resulting in a durable investment. Inaccurate sizing can lead to over or under-estimating the expected performance of the system, to including the preparation of irrelevant SKUs or to mismanaging inventory.

1st key

PERFORMANCE GOALS

Goods-to-Person workstation productivity is impacted by several parameters, such as the weight and dimension of the items, the average number of items by order or particular operations that must be carried out on the products. It is best to carry out trials based on standard orders and using a test workstation in order to properly calibrate the expected rate at the workstation.

2nd key

CHOOSING SKUS

Not all SKUs are suitable for the Goods-to-Person solution. Through analysis of the item database and the order book, the zone of relevance of the system can be defined. Two main suitability criteria must be respected, these are daily consumption and the size/weight characteristics of each SKU. Heavy and voluminous products are more suitable to being prepared using a station or collecting procedure. The same is true of very high or low turnover products, except those whose preparation does not significantly change the amount of investment needed.

3rd key

OPTIMISING STORAGE DENSITY

Another important step is sizing the stock. Depending on the SKU chosen, this essential step in the analysis will define the correct storage form to be adapted for each suitable SKU, such as the quantity to be stored, the number of containers needed, their height, their type (big, small or compartmentalized). The appropriate number of positions and aisles can then be defined according to the available space, the height of the building and the required performance of the solution.

4th key

REPLENISHMENT STRATEGY

It is important to define an efficient replenishment strategy (frequency and volume) for each suitable SKU. The aim is to be foresighted enough to replenish the system at the right time and to avoid continuously replenishing the same SKU. It is also essential to decide when replenishement will take place, either outside of production time or at the same time, because this choice will have an impact on the sizing of the system flow.

5th key

PROJECT BUDGET AND SIZING

Finally, you need to have a clear vision of the size of the project that you want to put in place, it must be coherent with your current business strategy, your current growth prospects and your expected return on investment. Undertaking this kind of forecasting in collaboration with your supplier will help you to determine the configuration you need (number of aisles, number of preparation workstations) and future development scenarios for the number of orders to be prepared.